PM Orbán: Policy on Hungarian communities beyond the borders must help lower and middle classes

PM Orbán said that members of the highly-qualified intellectual classes with solid family backgrounds are already succeeding in finding their own path as Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. “Particular attention should be paid to lower and mid-level groups, however," he said

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that the policy on Hungarian communities beyond the borders must reinforce the “main trunk” of those communities, which are the lower and middle classes.

He said the lower and some middle classes are most vulnerable to assimilation. Whereas the highly-qualified intellectual elite “are doing fine”.

In an interview with Transylvanian Hungarian daily Krónika, PM Orbán said that, in his experience, members of the highly-qualified intellectual classes with solid family backgrounds are already succeeding in finding their own path as Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. “Particular attention should be paid to lower and mid-level groups, however," he stated.

“They can be helped by a policy which emphasizes that being Hungarian is not only uplifting, but also worthwhile. The enterprise development programs operating in the Carpathian Basin serve this goal,” he added.

“The great achievement of the coming years will be that Hungarians will feel that they have greater development, employment, income and education opportunities than before, simply because they are Hungarian. So it will be worth remaining part of the Hungarian people for everyone – even for a Hungarian living in the last house in the most distant village. It is the trunk of the Hungarian people that we must now reinforce – the forest canopy is doing fine.”

The prime minister said that fluctuations in Romanian-Hungarian relations are a result of whether Romania has a well-intentioned leadership that shows Hungary respect, or a hostile one.

“In such a difficult period, all we Hungarians can do is not respond in kind to provocation and harshness. Recently I personally have also had to put up with a lot from certain Romanian political leaders, and so has our homeland, but we have never reciprocated such attacks. In the medium-term this approach will begin to bear fruit. We are now in an era of building trust […] I feel that we can put together a cooperation package that concentrates primarily on the economy, and which could serve the interests of Romania, Romanian Hungarians and the mother country alike," he said.

PM Orbán said that in his view the whole Hungarian community in the Carpathian Basin stands on the threshold of a great era.

“What follows will not just be protection against the stripping away of rights, but reinforcement of those rights; not poverty, but predictable, smooth and tangible growth […] From now on we will not be satisfied simply with others giving us work, but instead Hungarians will be giving jobs to other Hungarians in competitive European factories and businesses," he said.